Piece of New York's (and Kingston's) history for sale on eBay

Stanley Klos, president of the group Forgotten Founders, displays a 1777 copy of the Declaration of Independence and a full printing of the New York Constitution. On the wall behind him are letters from Thomas Jefferson and King George III of Great Britain. Photo provided

KINGSTON -- On the run from the approaching British army, a group of 18th century patriots found a welcome haven in Kingston and put the small Hudson River community on course with history.

On April 22, 1777, two months after the delegates to the Provincial Congress arrived in Kingston, they emerged from the Ulster County Courthouse to declare they had adopted a Constitution establishing the state of New York.

Now, an original copy of the state Constitution, which was read publicly for the first time on the steps of the Wall Street courthouse, is up for sale through an auction on eBay.

It is one of only four known copies in existence, said Stanley Klos, president of the not-for-profit organization Forgotten Founders.

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"We know there were 200 printed in Fishkill," Klos said. "(Original copies) turn up from time to time. Right now, there's four known 1777 copies in existence."

Klos is offering the 234-year-old document, which includes a full printing of the Declaration of Independence, for a starting bid of $6,500.

The original document is kept in a climate-controlled vault at the New York State Archives in Albany.

In 2002, six of the document's 28 pages, handwritten on pieces of linen, were brought to Kingston under state police escort for a celebration of the 225th anniversary of the adoption of the state Constitution, which historians say was the model for the U.S. Constitution.

"Of any place I would love to see this go, it would be Kingston, because that's where it was finished, that's where it was adopted," Klos said. "It's a very important document, and Kingston played a very important role."

According to the U.S. Department of the Interior, the New York Constitution was written "on the run" as delegates to the Provincial Congress fled north from New York City to escape the approaching British Army. The New York Congress was forced from Manhattan to White Plains, where John Jay was named chairman of the committee to draft the Constitution. As the British advanced, the group, which called itself the Convention of the Representatives of the State of New York, was forced north again, first to Fishkill, then to Kingston.

"Really, the state of New York was born in Kingston. The state's birthplace is in Kingston," Klos said. "It may have been conceived in White Plains, but it was born in Kingston."

Klos said he has used the New York Constitution in a variety of historical exhibits hosted by his organization, most recently in Jacksonville, Fla., in February.

"It's quite historic because it has all the components," Klos said. "It's a cool read, it's a really great read."

Klos said he is selling the rare document in order to raise money to buy an even more rare historical document: an original broadside printing of the Declaration of Independence.

Klos said he set the starting bid price low, at $6,500, but hopes to raise much more.

"We set up a low reserve hoping to attract bidders," he said. "Hopefully it will go up. If it doesn't, somebody will get a great buy."

As of Wednesday, no one had bid on the historical document. Bidding ends on Friday, Klos said.